Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, Tesla and social media platform X, has spoken in favour of granting permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to India and Africa, stressing the need for a revision of the UN bodies. In a post, Musk remarked that India not having a permanent seat on the UNSC, despite being the most populous country in the world, is absurd.
"At some point, there needs to be a revision of the UN bodies. Problem is that those with excess power don’t want to give it up. India not having a permanent seat on the Security Council, despite being the most populous country on Earth, is absurd. Africa collectively should also have a permanent seat imo," said Musk in a post on X.
It is important to mention that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sparked the debate by questioning why there was not a single permanent member on the Security Council. "Institutions must reflect today’s world, not that of 80 years ago. September’s Summit of the Future will be an opportunity to consider global governance reforms & re-build trust," he said on X.
Responding to Guterres' question, American-born Israeli businessman Michael Eisenberg questioned why India was not being considered for a permanent membership of the 15-member Council. "And what about India? Better yet is to dismantle the UN and build something new with real leadership," he said.
India's call for reform of UN
The Security Council has 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members. India has long been seeking a permanent membership at the UNSC, strongly calling for reform of the United Nations in line with the changing realities of the world. The five permanent members are the UK, China, Russia, the US and France.
Four out of the five permanent members of the UNSC have called for granting a permanent UNSC membership to India. "We support India's candidacy for joining the UN Security Council as a permanent member," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in December after a meeting with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar referred to UNSC as an "old club" where members do not want to let go of their grip and not keen to have their practices questioned. "The UN Security Council is like an old club where there are a set (of) members who don’t want to let go of the grip. They want to keep control over the club and are not keen to admit more members and are not keen to have their practices questioned," Jaishankar said.
He said there is a realisation that India should be a permanent member of the UN. "I think there is a realisation of that. I am sure it will happen. We will keep at it, but I do believe that history is on our side in that regard," he added. In October, India said the world had been unable to resolve disputes through the United Nations, because its core body, the UN Security Council has been "rendered ineffective".
(with inputs from agencies)
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